Geek

I have gotten some advice from patent lawyers and they say to go to the best school possible. IP firms will train you on the job so it doesn't really matter how good the IP program is at your law school.

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brian

I have a good friend a George Mason - the school just broke into the top tier and have an excelent IP program (proximity to the patent office and all that). He likes it and has confirmed good work in DC for his 2L summer.

Dean, Geek, is correct: you should attend the best law school you can get in to. Firms, will train you on the job for IP law. It's better to attend a tier one law school than a school that has strong "IP program". Provided that you have good grades in law school, you'll have a much easier time getting a job at a good law school compared to a school that has only a good IP program.

I agree, but don't forget that (generally) you need a science or engineering degree to sit for the patent bar. Firms won't train you in that respect - in fact, most won't even talk to you.

That said, the bar is lower for patent attorneys in terms of grades / class rank. You don't need to do as well in law school to get patent jobs the most prestigious firms. It makes sense because the applicant pool is much smaller - only a certain (small) percentage of law students qualify for the patent bar.

Eh, Andrew, I am aware that you attend an excellent school for studying Intellectual property. I have a science background but I was under the impression that most patent attorney had at least a Masters or PHD's in science. Further, I heard the patent bar is very tough it's failure rate is high.

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dogtown

You definately do not need a postgrad science degree to sit for the patent bar. I think a lot of people do have them, but not the majority. A lot of people end up getting a technical masters because they have an undergrad that does not qualify them to sit for the patent bar. My law school offers a one year computer science masters for just such people. A BS degree is enough though.

Its true that the patent bar typically does have a very low passing rate - between 17 and 40 percent! However, this last exams numbers were much higher, something like 63 percent.

This high number is very unusual. Apparently they needed to admit a lot of people fast. I would not be suprised if next time the rate drops way back down. Either that or the rate will stay high again and then drop down. I therefore think it would be smart to take the exam as soon as possible, because the high number is bound to come back down.

Pun - never noticed your reply until today - when I said that the bar was lower I didn't mean the actual BAR - I meant the standards for getting a big-firm job. I can see how my post is misleading.

I don't know anything about the patent bar exam except that you need the science or engineering degree. (I don't have one.) What I do know is that I have a lot of friends that got great jobs at patent attorney's based on their undergrad degrees and average grades. It was much easier for them than for eveyone else.

OK, so how about an MBA in Information Systems with 4+ years of IT (mainly IT support in international law firms). I am pursuing litigation support/computer forensics, and I strongly believe that an MBA, JD and IT experience will help. Given these goals, which schools do you recommend? Contructive criticism is welcomed!!